Alhambra Theater

A few July 2012 photos can be seen here, here, here and here.

Such a shame that those who have shot off their mouths about the misuse and abuse of this grand theater by Crunch haven’t, apparently, taken the time to actually go see the superb job that Crunch has accomplished. By both restoring and preserving much of the Alhambra they have done us all a great service. Better that they have used it to accomplish a good than to let it die of dust and destruction. Get a life and go see for yourselves before you take pot shots over something you haven’t taken time to actually observe.

Most of the Roadshow films played Coronet, Alexandria, Golden Gate / Penthouse, UA, Orpheum, Parkside Theatres during that era. Those houses were equipped with full 70MM booths. The Fox Theatre opened “The Robe” for a long engagement. The St. Francis Theatre might have had a roadshow run. The Alhambra Theatre got 70MM much later.

Very nice looking theatre.

1980 Photo

1986 Photo

Here is part of a lawsuit from the early 1980s. Plaintiff lost.

On March 24, 1979, Jocelyn Vargas attended a movie, “Boulevard Nights,” at the Alhambra Theatre on Polk Street in San Francisco. After leaving the theater, as she and her friends were walking down the street to catch a bus, she was shot by someone who, it is alleged, was a “member of the general public prone to violence … who had been attracted to said Alhambra Theatre by the showing of said violent movie … .” Through her mother, as guardian, she has sued various defendants, including petitioners, who are alleged to be the producers of the movie. Her mother, alleging damage for medical treatment and loss of services, is also a plaintiff. Their complaint, as relevant here, is that petitioners “knew, or should have known, that said movie was a violent movie and would attract certain members of the public to view said movie who were prone to violence and who carried weapons … [and] would, or were likely to cause grave bodily injury upon other members of the general public at or near the showing of said movie,” but that petitioners “negligently failed to warn” Jocelyn of these facts, and “negligently failed to take sufficient steps to protect patrons,” such as herself, “at and near said Alhambra Theatre.” In a second cause of action, plaintiffs allege in addition that petitioners “willfully allowed the showing of said movie to the general public, knowing and thereby impliedly representing to members of the general public … that said movie could be viewed in safety,” that they “intended that patrons, such as Jocelyn Vargas, should rely on their representations,” and she did so rely, to her detriment.

Here is a recent photo of Crunch Fitness.

My father Elmer Thomas Davis worked for the Alhambra Theater in the late 20’s . At that time all the first run theaters had one or more full time artists that produced beautiful posters of the upcoming attractions. They also created other lobby displays appropriate for the movie of the day. My father was a talented artist and worked for a number of theaters in this capacity in San Francisco, Sacramento, and Cleveland in the thirties. He was known as a lobby display man (per the union). I wonder what happened to all these wonderful posters that were made during this time?

i’ve been planning for years to catch a movie at the Alhambra, only to see it, on the news, invaded by a horde of narcissistic healthnuts jumping around like a bunch of monkeys on meth. where is st. francis, patron saint of san francisco and the disadvantaged- which in this case are the vintage movie houses that are being robbed, raped and pillaged by ruthless real estate interests aided and abetted by an insensitve, ignorant gaggle of myopic philistines hellbent on destroying our precious cultural legacy. the 1906 earthquake did less damage to sf than the current mob of selfserving culture vultures.

I lived in the Frisco Bay area from 1971 to 1978 after moving out there from Chicago and I attended this theatre. Kinda reminds me of the great movie palaces of Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.

I walked by the Alhambra today, and it no longer Gorilla Sports. It is now being operated by Crunch Fitness. Who knows, someday it may even be a movie theater again.

After I moved to SF in 1992, I bragged to everyone in my hometown about the Alhambra. It was a real movie palace. I loved seeing the great Disney pictures there. I even managed a showing of “Scream” at this wonderful place.
How it HURT to see it go! You just didn’t have the problems with movie-going back then! No cellphones, pushy patrons, rude youth…I had the best experiences here and it made seeing a movie special! This was a HUGE loss to us movie-goers, but multiplex patrons could care less which is sad.
I miss this theater!

Here are 5 photographs courtesy of the archive of the Cinema Theatre Association, UK. Taken in 1997 just prior to the closure of the Alhambra:
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